Taxation during Reconstruction
After the war it was certain that taxation would be higher and expenditure greater, both on account of the ruin caused by the war that now had to be repaired, and because several hundred thousand negroes had been added to the civic population. Before the war the negro was no expense to the state and county treasuries; his misdemeanors were punished by his master. Yet neither the ruined court-houses, jails, bridges, roads, etc., nor the criminal negroes can account for the taxation and expenditure under the carpet-bag régime. During the three and a half years after the war, under the provisional governments, most of the burned bridges, court-houses, and other public buildings had been replaced; and there were relatively few negroes who were an expense to the carpet-bag government.
After the overthrow of Reconstruction, Governor Houston stated that the total value of all property in Alabama in 1860 was $725,000,000, and that in 1875 it was $160,000,000.[1577] In 1866 the assessed valuation was $123,946,475;[1578] in 1870 it was $156,770,385,[1579] and in 1876, after ten years of Reconstruction, it was $135,535,792.[1580] Before the war the taxes were paid on real estate and slaves. In 1860 the taxes were paid upon slave property assessed at $152,278,000, and upon real estate assessed at $155,034,000.[1581]
Although there was some property left in 1865, the owners could barely pay taxes on it. The bank capital was gone, and no one had money that was receivable for taxes. Consequently, it was impossible to collect general taxes, and the state government was obliged to place temporary loans and levy license taxes. No regular taxes were collected during 1865 and 1866. The first regular tax was levied in 1866, and was collected in time to be spent by the Reconstruction convention.[1582] For four years after the surrender the crops were bad, and when called good they were hardly more than half of the crops of 1860.[1583] However, if no state taxes were paid by the impoverished farmers, there still remained the heavy Federal tax of $12.50 to $15 per bale on all cotton produced.
The rate of taxation before the war on real estate and on slaves was one-fifth of one per cent. After the war the taxes were raised by the provisional government to one-fourth of one per cent, and license taxes were added. The reconstructed government at once raised the rate to three-fourths of one per cent on property of all descriptions,[1584] and added new license taxes, more than quadrupling the former rate. Under Lindsay, the Democratic governor in 1871-1872, the rate was lowered to one-half of one per cent. The assessment of property under Reconstruction was much more stringent than before. There were only five other states that paid a tax rate as high as three-fourths of one per cent, and four of these were southern states.[1585]
Before the war the county tax was usually 60 per cent of the state tax, never more. The city and town tax was insignificant. After the war the town and city taxes were greatly increased, the county tax was invariably as much as the state tax, and many laws were passed authorizing the counties to levy additional taxes and to issue bonds. The heaviest burdens were from local taxation, not from state taxes.[1586] In Montgomery County, the county taxes before the war had never been more than $30,000, and had been paid by slaveholders and owners of real estate. During Reconstruction the taxes were never less than $90,000, and every one except the negroes had to pay on everything that was property. In fact, the taxes in this county were about quadrupled.[1587] In Marengo County the taxes before the war were $12,000; after 1868 they were $25,000 to $30,000, notwithstanding the fact that property had depreciated two-thirds in value since the war. Land worth formerly $50 to $60 an acre now sold for $3 to $15.[1588] In Madison County, the state taxes in 1858 were $23,417.63 (gross); in 1870, $66,745.53 (net). The state land tax in 1858 in the same county was $7,213.10; in 1870, $51,445.30. Madison County taxes were:—
| State Tax | County Tax | Total | |
| In 1859 | $26,633.71 | $13,316.85 | $39,950.56 |
| In 1869 | 65,410.85 | 65,410.85 | 130,821.70 |
The general testimony was that the exemption laws relieved from taxation nearly all the negroes, except those who paid taxes before the war.[1589]
The following table will show the taxation for 1860 and 1870:—
| Census Valuation | State Tax | County Tax | Town Tax | |
| 1860 | $432,198,762[1590] | $530,107 | $309,474 | $11,590 |
| 1870 | 156,770,387 | 1,477,414 | 1,122,471 | 403,937 |